Baxter vs. Possum

So, last Wednesday was a fun night. I put Baxter out around 10:00 p.m. and I noticed around 10:20 that he was barking his head off. I went out onto the front porch to see what the hell was going on and I saw this black shape on the fence between my house and the Ramirez house. At first I thought it was a cat but then I thought "Oh no."

That was not a cat. It was none other than a possum. Baxter kept jumping up but he couldn't get a grip on it. The possum was scared out of its mind but I was scared out of mine to get too close to it. It was a great time trying to grab a puppy without getting too close to the wild animal considering that the animal was right above me when I finally grabbed Baxter and carried him into the house. Baxter did snap on its tail but he still didn't get too good of a grip on the thing - thank god. In the house, Baxter cried for about a half an hour, wanting to go back outside but he finally passed out around eleven. Good times. Good times.

My dog is a hunter. And I can't even be mad at him when he goes after wildlife. He's a terrier. Hunting wildlife is what he does.

Lazy Westie

Maybe it's because I am now an owner of a Westie but I saw this video and I had to post it. I think that I'll get Baxter a lazy swing but somehow, I doubt that he would go along with this.

Baxter the Hunter

Every morning, before I go to work, I let Baxter outside. We usually go in the backyard and we spend a few minutes back there before coming back out front. On Friday, we were walking around the side of the house, approaching the front lawn, when Baxter suddenly stopped. There it was. A squirrel right by the new oak tree my dad had planted in the yard last weekend. I have never seen a dog run so fast. One moment, he was right next to me and then I blinked. The next second, Baxter was tearing across the front yard and then something happened that was like having my own personal National Geographic show right in front of me. You all know the moment I'm talking about. When the lion catches up to the gazelle and the camera slows down as the lion pounces on its prey.

Baxter caught the squirrel, capturing the tail between his teeth, but the squirrel managed to escape from the jaws of death and sprint for the other tree in my front yard, tearing up the trunk. Baxter almost caught him again though when the squirrel came down the trunk for a split second before disappearing up in the branches. Baxter sat underneath that tree for almost fifteen minutes waiting for the squirrel to come down. Is it strange if I feel oddly proud of Baxter for almost catching that squirrel? That is what terriers were bred to do. It is in his nature to catch vermin and he almost succeeded. He would have made his Westie ancestors proud. I honestly don't know what I would have done though if Baxter had caught the squirrel. He has had his rabies shot but I am not prepared to start dealing with dead animals in my yard. I do know that the squirrels better start watching their backs.

Bill, Baxter and a Grill

Bill and Baxter enjoying a cook-out on Memorial Day.

Tick-Tock

I bought Baxter the coolest dog toy at Target a few days ago - a stuffed crocodile Bill proceeded to name Tick-Tock after the crocodile from Peter Pan. During Bill's stay over Memorial Day weekend, both he and Baxter were constantly playing with the toy. I might have to buy Bill his own stuffed crocodile for his birthday.

Dirty Dog

This morning, I witnessed the dirtiest dog I have ever seen. And, of course, that dog was mine. Baxter is an outdoor dog, which is always fun considering he's supposed to white. It's always painfully obvious when he's been playing in the dirt and this morning, it couldn't have been more obvious.

Dr. Satan

My mom requested some pictures of Baxter so I am going to post a couple. When I get up in the morning for work and go to take my shower, Baxter jumps up into my bed and falls asleep where I was. I guess he likes to feel the warmth there. I snapped this picture of him a few mornings ago. The other one is just some random picture of him I took tonight.

Home For Mom's Day

Good God. It has been a while. Do you remember when I used to update three, sometimes four, posts a day? Sorry for totally slacking on The Mixed Tape but as I have mentioned in earlier posts, I have been bitten by the writing bug once again and when that happens, I am completely consumed and all I can do is write story after story until I burn myself out again. And unfortunately, when the bug decides to bite me, everything else seems to take a back seat, including blog updates. I apologize to this blog's five readers though. I promise to try to keep it more up to date - especially since I graduated from college almost a year ago already, meaning that my first official year in the real world is coming to a close.

I am in Ohio for a three-day weekend and though it is only 2:45 as I write this, I have been quite busy today. I went to the dentist this morning, came to see my mom at work and bug my friend, Jeff, before heading over to get my hair cut and waved. I'm now back in my mom's office, finally updating The Mixed Tape and enjoying the rest of the day off. Tomorrow, I'll probably run some errands with my mom before hanging out with Adam and Jon tomorrow night. Adam just got an apartment downtown and he's excited to show it off so me and Jon are going to probably head there tomorrow night for some beers and a cookout. I'm so excited to see them. I miss Brittnay though. I wish she could be here too. The group seems rather incomplete without her.

Sunday is Mother's Day and though I think my driving five and a half hours to be here this weekend is present enough, I'm going to get her something else. It feels like the right thing to do considering she had a hand in creating me and all. Maxwell, once again, has aged about a hundred years since Baxter has invaded his home but I'm sorry Maxwell. I love being home. I'm already dreading having to go back on Sunday and then back to work on Monday. One year later and my thoughts are still the same. The real world, and being an adult, completely sucks ass.

New Bax Pictures

New Bax Pictures

Baxter seems like such a serious puppy in pictures. I'm not sure why. Perhaps if he had been photographed years earlier, he would have possibly fit in well with Dorthea Lange's Dust Bowl photographs. He looked sad and serious enough.

Mail Call

I finally went grocery shopping today after work. Thank god because I really didn't have any food in the house that seemed appetizing. I do hate grocery shopping though because I have a habit of just buying enough food to get me through maybe two weeks. For some reason, I have a hard time buying ahead. I don't know. Perhaps my dad needs to train me in grocery shopping a little bit more.

Baxter got his first piece of mail ever today! His birthday is April 9 and he will be a year old already. My puppy is growing up so fast. It feels like just yesterday he came into my life and ruined it. He's part of the birthday club at Petsmart and they were sending him a card for a free gift. It's perfect timing though because mom, dad and Chrissy are coming to spend Easter with me, which is on the 8th so they will all be here for Baxter's birthday. I'm not sure what I'm going to do but perhaps I can bake him some dog-safe cookies or something. I wonder if you can make a cupcake that wouldn't kill a dog.

Tuesday's Gone

Well, it's Tuesday night and that only means one thing. Yep. COPS marathon on CourtTV! I bet you know what I'm watching right now. This week has been pretty slow at work so far. We had a big quote due yesterday morning and then another one today. The rest of the week looks to be just as slow. Sometimes, it's nice to be able to breathe while at work but on the other hand, when things are slightly hectic, the time flies by like it did this morning. Oh well. I'm clearly never satisfied.

I had that chicken mushroom thing from the crockpot with the rice that I love to death. It's so nice to come home and have a warm cooked meal waiting for me. I also got Marie Antoinette through Netflix and watched it. The movie is very delicious looking with all of the sweets and pastel colors used but as for the plot... well, don't watch this movie for plot.

Baxter has been in love with the spring weather outside. I'm able to keep the door open more so he loves looking out. Yesterday, I let him outside when I got home for work and he spent about two to three hours outside, just running around, chasing birds, or sitting and looking up and down the street. He slept like a baby last night and since he was doing the same thing today, hopefully I'm in for another sleepful night.

I just hung up with Brittnay after a good twenty-five minute talk. I adore talking with her. No matter what we talk about, we can make each other laugh. Our conversations are mostly nonsense but that's why she's my best friend. We can talk to each other about nothing and am still be able to talk without pauses or beats. She is graduating from college in May with an education degree and all I have to do is figure out whether or not I can go to Toledo for that weekend and celebrate with her. Toledo is only about 3-3 1/2 hours away so hopefully things will work out and I'll be able to.

Baxter's Haircut

Baxter had his grooming appointment on Saturday. I shouldn't really say he got a haircut considering that they actually sheared my dog like he was a lamb on a wool sweater assembly line. I was in complete shock when I picked him up and I think I was actaully have a panic attack. Baxter doesn't seem to care though. Or maybe he does care but he knows I'm upset enough for the both of us.

In Like A Lion...

Today during my lunch hour, I finally called the groomer and set up an appointment for Baxter to get a haircut. I think the last time he was groomed was sometime in October - around Heidi's wedding maybe. Well, no matter when it was, he desperately needs to be groomed again. The weather is slowly turning to Spring so I don't have to worry about Baxter freezing to death when he goes outside with no hair. Not only is he a hairy monster but he also smells. I can't take it anymore.

I also finally went grocery shopping tonight after work. I couldn't take eating rice anymore and I missed eating a pear every morning. I adore fruit. Besides pears, I also bought grapes, raspberries and some bananas. I wish I could have gotten a 12-pack of Dr. Pepper but one day at a time. You think since I gave pop up every year for Lent, it would start to get easier but that's not the case. I think one year, instead of giving up pop, I should try to not swear for 40 days. Now that would be a challenge.

It's amazing how quickly the weather changed. Two weeks ago, we got slammed with a blizzard and now, we're dealing with thunderstorms. I'm not sure which I prefer. I love the winter and the cold and the way everything seems to be silent when it snows. But I love being tucked away in my house with a book and listening to the rain hit the roof above. The only problem with that is I can't sleep when it rains. Whenever it starts to rain at night, I know I'm in for a long night unless it stops. It's been raining on and off all day so I did get to wear my favorite yellow rain jacket, which always makes me happy.

How Does Your Light Shine?

I don't know how but I need to get down to Cincinnati sometime and visit Xavier's campus. My sister went to Xavier University for her undergrad but I have more Xavier apparel than her for some reason. And I need more. My two favorite tee-shirts, navy blue ones that have Xavier written across the front, are slowly becoming unwearable. My first one preferred actually is unwearable unless I wish to be obscene. It is something resembling swiss cheese with all of the holes and rips and tears. I don't have the heart to get rid of it though. I was literally standing at my kitchen sink, ready to toss it in the cabinet underneath and keep it there as a dust rag but I couldn't bring myself to do it. It's now folded and put away in a drawer. The other favorite is slowly following its path. It has two holes, one under each arm and the hemline is tearing apart. I need to get more . These were two of my favorites in a rather extensive tee-shirt collection. That's saying something.

For some reason, I decided to watch Lost last night. I had read earlier yesterday that last night's episode was taking us back to the beach - you know, to follow the people the show was originally about before it sucked. Last night was so enjoyable and great for several reasons: it was centered mostly on Hurley, Charlie, Jin and Sawyer, Kate was barely in it, and the main song of the night was Shambala, the best song from Three Dog Night. If every episode could be like it was last night, I bet Lost wouldn'e be in the ratings toilet like it has been.

Something odd happened to me last night. I went to bed around 10:30, later than usual because Brian kept talking to me and wouldn't let me go, and then, I woke up at my alarm. There was nothing in between that time but sleep. Baxter let me sleep the entire night through and he did as well. No barking, no crawling all over me. It was quiet and peaceful and I slept. And it was glorious. Of course, he owed me a night without him bothering me after what he did last night but it's too disgusting so I won't even discuss it.

Don't Let Him Fool You

Sleeping is the only way Baxter is tolerable.

Hump Day

Work has been kind of slow the last few days with just a few quotes and request for quotes going out. But I don't mind. After the week I had last week at work, things being slow is a lot less stressful for me. Linda was on the phone yesterday afternoon and again this morning, yelling at someone and I was just glad that she's never lost her temper with me like that. We worked on a couple of projects together this afternoon though and we were laughing. Her bad moods never last all day, thankfully.

I'm really tired today. This morning, around 4:30, Baxter woke up and decided that he would be awake for good. And since Dr. Satan thinks that if he's up, everyone should be up, he began crawling all over me. I was not pleased at all. I'm not sure why he felt the need to be wide awake but all I remember in my sleepy haze was pushing him away continously until my alarm clock went off at 6:05. I'll kill him if he does that again to me tonight. I take sleep very seriously. When applying to Marquette, on the application when they asked for a list of hobbies, I actually put sleeping at either number two or three on the list before my mom edited it.

Montgomery is going to be coming over on Friday to hang ou and he'll probably bring Jimmy with him, though I'm still pissed at that boy. If Jimmy does come, Montgomery will get the guest room and Jimmy can sleep on the cot down in the basement. I'm not sure he even deserves that though. Montgomery wanted to go to Schoop's on Friday but I kindly reminded him that since he's studying to become a Catholic, he should know that there is no eating meat on Fridays during Lent. He begrudingly agreed to change his Schoop's plans to Saturday. Montgomery, in the words of my mom, offer it up.

My Weekend

I had a really good weekend back at home though the two days seemed to go by too quickly in my opinion. I left work on Friday around 2:30 and was packed and on the road by 3:10. And since you gain an hour crossing into the eastern time zone, I got there around 9:30. I love going home. I miss my room and just being there. Baxter was absolutely insane upon seeing Maxwell and my parents and since he slept the entire way there, he did not sleep one wink Friday night and my parents had to suffer since they were the ones he bothered all night.

I got to hang out with Adam and Brittnay on Saturday night, which really was the main reason for me going home. I also got to meet Adam's new girlfriend Sarah. She seemed nice and a lot better than the girl he dated while in high school but I find it always hard to really get to know a person who's thrown in a situation like this. Adam, Brittnay and myself have been best friends and have known one another for years. When we're together, we're talking about all of these things that probably don't make much sense to anyone else. As is our tradition, we watched a bad horror movie, but only after calling Jon and asking him if it was alright to do so without him. Adam and Sarah left early but Brittnay stuck around and we watched another movie and hung out. Hopefully, she'll be able to come up and visit me during her Spring Break.

My dad is a full-blown Rome addict now. I had ordered the DVDs at a really good price on-line and the package had arrived Friday before I left, which was wonderful timing. I took it home with me and my dad could not stop watching episodes. I can't believe this. My dad doesn't understand buying DVDs and there he was, sitting on the couch all Sunday morning, except when we went to Bob Evans to eat, and afternoon, watching Rome. I'm happy he likes it so much. If he's going to be addicted to a tv show, at least it wasn't to one he found on MTv.

My parents are going to kill me reading this next part since Baxter didn't let them sleep Friday night. Driving back yesterday, Baxter slept for the entire five hour drive. Normally, in most situations, there would be no way he would sleep that night. But last night, after chasing his bones around and humping that IKEA dog, and I watched a few episodes of Cops since the first couple hours of the awards show are concering awards I really don't care about, we both went to bed. And Baxter slept the entire night through except around 3 when he had to go out. But other than that, he slept and he let me sleep. I'm sorry mom and dad. I guess sleep just doesn't interest him when he's with you.

Smile Pretty

And my mom says Baxter is too serious in pictures.

Sunday Morning

This morning was interesting for me. I got up, took a shower and then did something I had never really done before. I went to Calumet Bakery, got myself a cheese danish and then sat down and read the newspaper. It was both delicious and relaxing. And I think I just might have a new Sunday morning tradition.

Baxter also had a fun morning. When I was in the bathroom, blow drying my hair, the puppy decided that since the toilet lid was closed, he would just simply hop up and watch me. I had to put my foot down though when he tried to crawl into the sink. I really don't want a dog in my sink. And I hope he never jumps up on the toilet when the lid isn't closed. I really don't want Baxter to drown himself on toilet water. I'd be devestated and disturbed- not to mention scarred for the rest of my life.